If you're after chugging riffs, squealing guitars, thunderous drums, bass that grooves for days, and vigorous, burly vocals (with a sprinkling of piano rock), then put aside whatever you're doing and grab a slice of Monkey Emperor's debut single 'Grave'.
After a pub epiphany, then a barrage of noise complaints, the Perth hard rockers have established themselves on the local live scene the last two years, establishing the current line-up.A track that was first conceptualised two years, 'Grave' was recorded at Superfreak Studios during a 15-hour session to upgrade a 'very questionable' demo of the original.
"While we prefer it to be open to interpretation, 'Grave' at its foundation is the struggle of being in limbo – where we can either die or continue to live when one speaks our name.
"Please, I beg you to speak my name, because you won't believe the horrors down here," frontman Jesse Cummins Muir says.
Who is Monkey Emperor? Monkey Emperor was formed after a unique experience at a pub/ musical that was so good that our vocalist decided he'd drop his law degree that night and start hustling up people to start jamming together.
Over the next couple years Jesse would find Anthony and Scott, the band's two guitarists, and eventually Austen and Jacob, their bass player and drummer. Together we've had some insane nights, both on and off stage; you'd have to come to a gig to find out why.
Who do we sound like? We've honestly had a bunch thrown at us; the piano/ hard rock blend usually attracts a lot of Guns N' Roses and even Meatloaf, but most of the time the heavy drums and riffs have gotten us plenty of Iron Maiden, Deep Purple and Black Sabbath.
Our first gig was... Incredible and fun, but also horrendous. We'd scored this open mic night at the famous Mojos in Fremantle; every friend and family member we'd ever spoken to was there in support.
We were absolutely sh.tting ourselves, covered in sweat. Tony is going to absolutely kill me for mentioning this, but about five minutes before we play, he pretty much refused to go up on stage.
Eventually after convincing him he knew how to play guitar, he went up and killed it, but this is a hilarious story we always hang over him. Poor fella.
When did you settle on the group's name, and was it a unanimous decision... We went through a bunch at the start, all terrible.
Eventually we all unanimously agreed on Monkey Emperor after our favourite animal being a monkey (shoutout to any 'Monkey Island' fans out there) and us all wanting some sort of royalty noun in the name.
I pushed extremely hard for Rocket Queen; the boys weren't having it unfortunately.
In the studio we usually... Waste a LOT of money laughing at our screw ups/ each other. Man do we have fun in there though.
My favourite app at the moment is... Shazam is, and always will be, the GOAT of all apps. That bad boy has come in handy too often.
To date, our most embarrassing moment was the time... Honest to God there are plenty, however the most reoccurring one is having event organisers/ venue managers spell our name wrong, consistently.
We have an album of photos in our group chat of all the times our name has been publicly spelt (on large signs out the front of the venue, mind you) as Monkey EMPORER. The worst is, and always will be, when The Rosemount put up in large bold letters 'MONEY EMPEROR'.
Life on the road can be... Haha, good one.
If you'll have us on your bill, all we ask is that our rider contains... Mic stands that don't spill.
The most scary scenario we've found ourselves in, was... About an hour before we had to play, the Perth State Government announced there had been a COVID exposure. We had no idea how serious it was until after our set when we'd realised they declared we'd be going into lockdown.
What celebrity/famous person would you love to be spokesperson of the band? We'd love to see Ozzy Osbourne in his prime try and conjure up a few gigs for us. Being a fly on the wall when that meeting went down would be something interesting.
If we had to live in a city abroad, where would it be? We've narrowed it down to either LA (hopefully playing on the Sunset Strip), London or Berlin.
Three people you'd like to invite around for a dinner party... I'd love to rigorously knit-pick every story and tip Axl Rose could give me. What a man. Tony idolises Jimmy Page, and for good reason. Jacob and Austen want to see if The Rock's meal prep is bullsh.t.
If we were coming to your place, what would you cook? Tony would cook you pasta, the rest of us would cook you snags.
When it comes to pets are you a lover or hater of our furry friends? We're gonna pretend that there's no such thing as a world with pet haters.
No matter the expense, send us a case of... Any spiced rum. Any.
The last time we saw the inside of a gym was... I can confidently say at least two of us saw one today from the inside, thank god.
What's the one chore you dislike the most? Being our own roadies.
Do you have any phobias... Empty glasses and tough crowds.
Would we ever partake in a reality show? We would absolutely dominate the 'Big Brother' scene. Ruthless. No survivors. In a few years our answer will change to 'Keeping Up With The Kardashians' when one of us has married Kendall Jenner.
If you could prank any of your friends, who's your target, and how are you bringing them down? Scott tends to rock up to the wrong venue to play, so really our work is done for us. We love you Scott.
Best local takeaway joint for a midnight feed that will leave you with a food coma? Whatever is the closest kebab joint to the bar we're in at the time.
Which fictional character best describes your personality? Jesse: Scary Spice. Tony: Posh Spice. Jacob: Sporty Spice. Scott: Ginger Spice. Austen: Baby Spice. The Spice girls are fictional, and you cannot convince us otherwise.
Last show we binge-watched? 'Peaky Blinders'. Tommy Shelby is arguably the greatest protagonist of all time.
